


The Hero next door

by Tookette



Series: Au_gust_2020 oneshots [2]
Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Daddy Ryuya, It'll be mentionned at one point but I'd rather warn you early, Kid Reiji, M/M, Mentions of a Car Crash, Reiji's family didn't survive, Ryuya adopted Reiji, Self-Indulgent, Single Parent AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:48:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26001409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tookette/pseuds/Tookette
Summary: Mizu was a simple man, living his simple life, enjoying simple things like motorcycles, cigarettes, night life and his giant cat.Then Mr Tall-and-Handsome moved in next door, his shy and cute boy in tow.Suddenly life wasn't so simple anymore...Started for AUgust 2020, but then it started blowing out of proportions.
Relationships: Hyuuga Ryuuya/OC
Series: Au_gust_2020 oneshots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1865719
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2
Collections: AUgust 2020





	The Hero next door

**Author's Note:**

> Long story short: @SunshineReiji and I have this long ongoing RP during which we've introduced a couple OCs, Mizu being one of them. At one point we decided that we needed Ryuya and Mizu to adopt Reiji, and since it will never happen in our RP for various reasons, this became a thing.
> 
> So really it's just for our own self-indulgence ^^
> 
> Special thanks to @SunshineReiji for fuelling this story with plot-bunnies and suggestions <3

Mizu was a simple man. He liked listening to rock music and popular songs, binging horror movies on his sofa, singing his heart out with friends on karaoke night, and riding his motorcycle day and night. He liked the bar he worked at, riding home on deserted streets and sleeping in every morning. Above all, he liked his cat, a giant Norwegian monster he’d called Inu, because why the hell not?

He lived in a small neighbourhood not far from the local preschool, across from the crazy old lady that always chastised him whenever she’d see him smoke, left of a workaholic he’d hardly see and right from an apartment that had been for sale for the last couple months.

Therefore, it came as no surprise when he woke up one morning to the sound of men pushing boxes and furniture behind his door. A glance through the window showed him that, yes, a moving truck was currently being unloaded outside.

‘ _New neighbours…_ ’ He yawned as he started his coffee and pushed open the veranda door leading to his narrow balcony. His cat brushed past his knees with a happy meow to lie down in the sunlight beneath his feet.

Now it was time to play a game of ‘spot my new neighbour’.

Finding the apartment’s new owner amidst the movers wasn’t an easy task, however, as he stepped outside moments later, a steaming cup in hand, he noticed the little boy sitting on one of the boxes outside. He was small, no more than five probably, with brown hair and what looked like a rabbit plushie held tight against his chest.

‘ _New neighbours with a kid, then,_ ’ he’d thought.

That is, until he realised he couldn’t see a single woman, nor with the cardboards, nor with the kid. He would have argued that maybe she was elsewhere, with her family while her husband did all the moving in, or maybe already inside ordering the movers about. But if that was the case, then why wasn’t the kid with her? Why leave him outside, sitting on some boxes?

‘ _Single father_.’ He’d thought again.

After that, it didn’t take long to spot said father. A tall handsome man with orange hair walked over to say something to the kid, all while effortlessly lifting a heavy looking box. The boy nodded, leapt off his perch and followed the man inside, still clutching his precious plushie.

* * *

He saw the boy again much later that same day.

It was nice and sunny, so he had left the veranda door open for Inu to come and go as he pleased while he himself loitered about in his apartment. The truck had long since gone and he had just stepped out of the shower, lazily getting into the process of getting ready for work, when he heard giggling outside.  
  
Curious, he silently stepped onto his balcony to see what was making such a noise.

Sure enough, the kid was sitting on the other side of the bars separating their balconies. The set of bars wasn’t much, it barely reached above Mizu’s hips and couldn’t stop anyone from hoping over, really, but hey, up until now nothing of the sort had ever happened: his neighbours had all been rather nice, pleasant people up until now, and to his knowledge no one had tried anything like that in his apartment complex.

The bars clearly weren’t stopping the kid from stretching his arm out to pet Mizu’s giant cat. The latter seemed to be enjoying the attention, seeing as he was currently stretched out on his back, purring his heart out.

It made for a cute sight, but Mizu considered himself a responsible adult and knew one could never be too cautious when it came to animals and young children.

“Careful kid,” he softly warned. “Inu’s a big cat, you don’t want him accidentally hitting you, ok?”

The poor boy retracted his hand as if caught doing something forbidden, his big terrified grey eyes locking with Mizu’s brown ones.

Half a second later, he was gone, scurrying inside his new home as fast as his little legs would let him while yelling something Mizu didn’t quite catch.

He felt a little sorry for the boy. Scaring him off hadn’t been his intention. Thankfully, he was a positive guy, he liked looking on the bright side of things, so he made do with what he had.

For instance, now that the kid wasn’t standing a mere foot away from him, he could enjoy a quick smoke before heading out.

He had just lit the butt end of his cigarette when out stepped the handsome man he’d notice earlier, a small frown set over his tired eyes. Tired, beautiful, blue eyes, that quickly set on him.

Mizu froze for a second beneath the stare, before quickly offering a smile.

“Sorry,” he said casually while dragging the cigarette away from his lips. “Didn’t mean to scare your kid. Just tried warning him against getting too cuddly with my cat. You never know.”

He said it in a friendly tone, which held no malice. The man in front of him must have felt it, anyway, since he’d relaxed his shoulders, somewhat. His eyes fell briefly to gaze at the stretch of fluff still purring against the bars at his feet.

“I see…” he answered in a tired voice, prompting Mizu to wonder when his new neighbour had last truly slept. “You… do have a big cat. Does he have a name?”

“Inu.”

He had answered with a straight face, which quickly contrasted with the dumbfounded look the handsome stranger graced him with shortly afterwards.

“You named your cat… dog?” He asked incredulously, to which Mizu shrugged.

“Why not? People call their cats Tiger or their dogs Wolf every other day, I don’t see why calling my cat Inu would be an issue…”

His new neighbour shook his head, but Mizu could see the tiny amused smile twitching at the corner of his lips, so he counted that as a small victory.

“The name’s Mizu, by the way,” the red-haired carried on, outstretching his now free hand over the bars separating them. Mr Tall-and-Handsome took a hold of his wrist with a firm grip, eyebrow raised in another flash of bemusement.

“Ryuya… you don’t watch Action Dramas often, do you?”

The question genuinely took him off guard.

“Not really, no.” He finally admitted. “I’m more of a horror fan, really. What gave it away?”

“Ah, nothing. Just a hunch.” As he said that, Ryuya’s lips twitched slightly upwards. “Sorry about Reiji, by the way. He’s… well… I guess he’ll need time to adjust to his new life.”

‘ _Ah_ ’, thought Mizu as he waved his apology away, ‘ _must be the kid’s name_.’

“Don’t apologise, I’m the one who scared him off.” A glance at his watch made him wince. He quickly put out his cigarette. “I have to run off. Erh… if you need any help with the furniture or stuff tomorrow, I’m free to help, okay?”

As he turned to usher Inu back inside, Mizu saw his new neighbour cock his head from the corner of his eyes.

“Oh,” Ryuya finally answered. “I’ll think about it. Thanks.”

Once his lazy cat was safely back inside, Mizu bid Mr Handsome a good evening and quickly set off to work.

‘ _Damn,_ ’ he cursed as he straddled his motorcycle, revving it up for a fast ride to the bar he worked at. ‘ _Why must the new neighbour be so hot?_ ’

* * *

[For those who want to, you can find a drawing I made of Mizu a while back here](https://twitter.com/tookette/status/1296248217907146752/photo/1)


End file.
